We took a walk on Crane Lane and the Dees Trail. We saw Dikkop and Auk in the same spot for over 2 hours in the HQ savanna. Banana and Coconut were standing in the slough near Crane Lane. All the birds were hunkered down from the wind.
We found our first Grass Centipede Orchids of the season along Crane Lane.
Monday, the VC was closed for Martin Luther King, Jr. day. It was a sunny, cold, windy day. We took a ride to check on the Eagle nests after our walk on Crane Lane. We had our first sighting of the Eaglet in the Ben Williams nest. One of the parents was sitting in a nearby tree when we drove through. When we came back a parent flew in the nest and fed the youngster. She moved side to side in the nest. We only could see one Eaglet.
A juvenile Eagle was flying too close to the nest on Beasley. One parent was in the nest and the other parent was chasing off the juvenile then landed in a nearby tree.
Tuesday, we had a steady pace of visitors at the VC on this cold, windy, day.
Wednesday, we had a 9 am Crane Tour with 9 tourist. It was another great tour. We had 17 Mississippi Sandhill Crane sightings. We were entertained by 2 different Cranes dancing. The first Ms. Sandhill Crane that danced was in the Savanna off Valentine Road. They are called the Painted Pair. They flew into the savanna then one of the pair started to dance.
Our second debut was Dougie and his partner in Bright's Pasture. Dougie, aka Fred Astaire, put on another great performance. He threw not only grass and dirt, but a feather. It looks like the mating season is in full swing, although both of the non dancing mates did not seem very impressed.
We saw Auk and Dikkop at the HQ feeder before we left. Then found Banana and Coconut walking around in Valentine Pond. After our turn around on Valentine Road, Banana and Coconut were walking down the middle of Valentine Road.
We saw one of the parents in a nearby tree of the nest on Ben Williams Road and got a good look at the Eaglet in the nest.
One parent was feeding the eaglet in the Beasley nest.
We spent the afternoon doing a Gulfport run. We made a quick stop at Sam's then went to Island View. Lauren cashed in $17 from his $20 free play. We finally found the Whimbrel at Jones Park.
Thursday, we spent this cloudy, rainy day hanging around camp.
Friday, we did a special request Crane Tour for the Homestead Retirement Village. We took the group of 10 on a 1 1/2 tour and saw 11 Sandhill Cranes. We stopped at one of the Eagle nests and got to see one of the parents through the spotting scope. Afterwards, we went to lunch with them. I think we had as much fun as they did. We did a Dees Trail walk late afternoon.
Saturday, we had a Crane Tour with 8 tourist. Six of the tourist were from New Orleans and brought us a King Cake. We had another great time, with 12 Ms. Sandhill Crane sightings. We saw a parent at both of the Eagle nests. The Eaglet in the Ben Williams nest teased us today. He would pop his head up for a few seconds then back down he would go. He sure is growing fast. We worked in the VC this afternoon with the Loews. We had a total of 102 visitors on this pretty, sunny, day.
Pictures:
No comments:
Post a Comment